Instincts
by cateliot
Summary: When the Hightower children come to the CBI bullpen, the team gets to glimpse a different side of their Boss. A season 3 one-shot and look into Lisbon's past. Complete.


**Author's Note: All characters, cases, and locations belong to Bruno Heller, CBS, and affiliates. This is the updated and edited version. If you like this one shot, check out my other two longer multi-chapter stories "Painting the Roses Red" and "Red Fingerprints" and my other one shot, "Good to Them". Let me know what you think of this, good or bad. Please review.**

"What the hell is going on?" Cho said, walking into the bullpen to find two children rushing around, squealing in delight, paperwork covering the floor, and Rigsby chasing the smaller boy around the room.

"Hightower's husband dropped the kids off and we kind of told her we could watch them 'til she got back," Van Pelt said tentatively. There was clear nervousness and despair in her face.

Cho's eyes widened slightly as he dropped into his desk. He found a half-eaten cookie on his case file and an unopened juice box sticking out of his drawer.

"Obviously it's not all under control," he said, coolly, throwing the crumbs onto the floor. "Where's Lisbon?"

"Minelli swung by to pick her up for lunch. The doc said her ankle's pretty twisted, so she can't drive." The red head cringed as Rigsby tripped over a metal wastebasket and fell, cursing into the side of his desk. "She doesn't know the kids are here."

"Get over here!" Rigsby shouted, making a grab for one of the children and missing. He growled in frustration.

Not even an hour later, the chaos had heightened.

"What is going on?" Lisbon roared over the noise. Both children halted in their games and Rigsby sighed in relief. Lisbon limped inside the bullpen to see the entire room destroyed. Rigsby had a black eye and some kind of keep away was going on with a glass jar.

"Um, these are Hightower's kids," Grace said hesitantly.

Lisbon expression was incredulous.

"Come on, you guys know better than this," Lisbon chastised, limping over to Jane's couch. "Why don't we clean up this mess and then get started on our homework, hmm? We don't want your mom to come back and be mad that we haven't done that right?"

To the agent's amazement, the two kids obeyed almost immediately.

"Neat trick. Where'd you learn it?" Cho said.

Lisbon just smirked as she limped around, directing the Hightower children on cleaning up the bullpen and on starting their homework.

"Teresa?"

"Yes, Mimi?" Lisbon called back at her from across the tables, glancing up to look at her from the paperwork covering the table.

"I'm finished with my math homework."

"Good work. Did you check it?"

She looked sheepishly down towards her paper. "Noo," she said sadly.

"Check it, please."

Grace watched in awe as the girl nodded and looked back down at the notebook quietly.

"How did you do that, Boss?" Rigsby whispered as the two were contently eating their snacks on Jane's couch.

She raised an eyebrow. "I raised three younger brothers. These two are angels compared to them," she said smoothly. Van Pelt immediately wanted to know more, but knew better than to ask.

"Teresa?" Mimi called softly, moving away her cookies and math notebook. She ran her hand over her braid nervously.

"What's up kid?"

The girl hesitated and Lisbon limped closer to the couch. Her younger brother had fallen asleep on the couch next to her, softly snoring on the arm rest.

"Are mommy and daddy splitting up because of us?"

Lisbon's throat closed briefly. She could feel the eyes of her team on her. She took a small breath before, "of course not, sweetie. Sometimes mommies and daddies need to take a break from each other is all. It doesn't mean they don't love you or that you did anything wrong."

"So, it's not 'cause I'm bad?"

Tears stung at the back of Lisbon's eyes. "No, don't ever think that. Your parents love you and your brother."

This seemed to reassure the girl

"Mommy!" Lisbon stood up as Hightower and Jane entered the bullpen. The concern that previous stained Mimi face was gone as she jumped up from the couch and surged towards her mother.

"Are you all right?" Jane asked walking over to her with his hand in his pockets. His eyebrows were quirked with concern.

"Fine," she said immediately, pushing down her motherly instincts back into the little box she kept them from all those years ago.

"What happened to Rigsby face?" he questioned, his tone still light.

Lisbon smirked.

"A few hours of fatherhood was tough on him."


End file.
